Rotary mower



March 1, 1960 J, NQRTHCOTE ETAL 2,926,479

ROTARY MOWER Original Filed Sept. 1, 1954 INVENTORS. JOHN A. NORTHCOTEDAVID W. DIXON United States Patent ROTARY MOWER John A. Northcote,Welland, Ontario, and David W. Dixon, Gait, Ontario, Canada, assignorsto John Deere Plow Company (Limited), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, acorporation of Canada 2 Claims... (Cl. 56 25.4)

This application is a division of our copending application, Ser. No.453,453, filed September 1, 1954 now Patent No. 2,815,631, for RotaryMower.

The present invention relates generally to agricultural implements andmore particularly to tractor-operated rotary mowers or stalk shreddersand like implements.

The object and general nature of the present invention is the provisionof a new and improved rotary mower or stalk shredder in which the casingor housing of the mower is particularly constructed to accommodate theconnection of the rotor with the power take-off shaft of a farm tractor.Specifically, it is an important feature of this invention to provide adraft hitch structure for connecting an implement with a tractor,wherein a mast section on the implement includes generally'forwardly anddownwardly divergent walls between which the power take-off shaft of thetractor may extend and be protected thereby while, at the same timethe-implement may shift laterally and/or vertically relative to thetractor without in any way interfering with the action of the powertake-off shaft. Further, it is a feature of this invention to providemeans at the lower portion of the mast section to receive the lowerlinks of the hitch connection.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective front view of a stalk shredder or rotary mowerin which the principles of the present invention have been incorporated.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view, with certain parts broken away.Referring now to the drawings, particularly Figs. 1 and 2, the mowerofthe present invention comprises a mower body in theform of acasing orhousing 10, including a welded framework 11 and suitable enclosureplates including front. upper plates 12 and 13, rear upper plates 14 and15, and side walls formed by plates 17 and 18 at each side of themachine, the plates 18 being curved. The supporting framework 11includes a pair of mainangles 21 disposed in a generally fore-and-aftextending, laterally spaced apart position, with suitableinterconnecting cross angles (not shown) extending between the mainangles 21. The frame 11 also includes a pair of side angles curved attheir rear portions so as to follow the configuration of the mower bodyand connected at their forward ends to a pair of upper front angles 31and 32, and a pair of lower side members 37, one at each side of themachine, the forward ends of which are in the form of upturned anglesections 38 fixed to the laterally outer ends of the transverse framebars 31 and 32.

The generally central portion of the mower body carries a casing 55 inwhich a bevel gear set 56 is disposed. Connected with the upright bevelgear 52 of the ice set 56 is' a power. shaft 58 that includestelescopically associated sections 59, ;and 60, the latter being adaptedto be connected in any suitable way with the. power takeoff of thetractor to whichrthe, mower is adapted to be connected. A horizontalbevel'gear 63 is fixed to the upper end of a vertical shaft 64, to thelower end of which a head 65 is fixed, the head 65 including a short bar66 apertured to receive a pair of bolts 67 by which a knife blade holder68 is connected to be rotated about the axis of the shaft 64 by powerdelivered to the mower through the drive shaft 58. The lower section ofthe casing 55 is formed with 'a tubular extension 70 in which bearingmeans, supporting the vertical shaft 64, is disposed. The rear portionof the casing is closed by a removable cover 72 (Fig. .2), and forwardlyof the gear case 55 is a slip clutch unit 75, of conventionalconstruction so far as the principles of the present invention areconcerned. Access to the clutch 75 is had by means of a removable coverplate 76 having a latch controlling handle 77. conventionally, the powershaft 58 is connected at its. rear end with the forward shaft of theslip clutch unit 75 by any suitable means whereby the power shaft 58 maytake an angled position, such as is shown for example, in Fig. 1.

Also forming a part of the mower body 10 is a mast section 80. Thismember comprises a generally hoodlike plate member 81 secured at itslower forward portions, as by bolts 83, to brackets 84 that are fixed tothe laterally inner end of the frame angles 31 and 32. At its rearportion the mast section is secured to the central portion of the mowerbody 10. The uppermost portion of the mast section 80 is formed as acasting and comprises a member having a pair of spaced apart sections 86that are apertured to receive the upper connector by which the implementis adapted to be connected to the upper link A of a three-link system.The two lower links B of such a system are adapted to be releasablymounted on a pair of spaced apart pins 87 fixed to brackets 88 that are,secured, as by welding, to the transverse frame members 31 and 32. Thepins 87 have apertured inner and outer ends whereby the pins are adaptedto receive the lower links of a three-link system even though thelateral spacing between the two lower links may vary. One way ofsecuring the member 86 to the mast plate 81 is by means of bolts 89. Thelaterally outer pin portions of the hitch pins 87 are indicated at 87a.The connections between the rear ends of the links A and B and theimplement attachment points 86, 87 and 87a are conventionally soconstructed and arranged as to provide for universal movement betweenthe links and the implement, and the connections between the forwardends of the links and the tractor (not shown) are conventionally of thesame or similar construction.

The mower body 10 is completed by a front shield in the form of wallmeans 95. Such front wall means comprises a lower front angle 96arranged with its edge section facing forwardly and bent into generallyarcuate shape, as best shown in Fig. 1. The ends of the front lowerangle member 96 are welded to the adjacent portions of the mower frame.A pair of front sheets, each having sections 101, 102, and 103, at eachside of the mower complete the front wall, together with side and bottomsheets and 106 that, with the upper mast section 80, form a generallyforwardly diverging tunnel T through which the power shaft 58, referredto above, extends, whereby the drive shaft is capable of both lateraland vertical swinging therein with no possibility of being fouled bygrass or other material cut by the mower.

The working unit of the mower of the present invention includes therotary shaft 64, blade holder 68, and

cutting blade means 78 fixed or connected to the end of the bladeholder'68 and a pair of cooperating'stationary gatherer knives 79. Anyone of several forms of cutting blades may be used and each of the.gatherer knives 79 comprises a U-shaped member formed generally of fiatbar stock and having apertured ends arranged to extend generallyforwardly. As best shown in Fig. 1, each knife member 79 comprises aU-shaped knife having generally forwardly extending leg sections 112 and113, these sections being apertured, and a pair of sharpened sections115 and 116, one formed at the lower side of the bar while the other isformed at the upper side. By virtue of this construction, the knives 111are reversible from right to left, and vice-versa. The laterally outerleg portion 112 of each knife is fixed to the mower frame through a pairof bolts 117 that fix the knife to the associated laterally outer sidesupport 118 which, as best shown in Fig. 2, comprises a generallyZ-shaped member having one end connected, as by a bolt 121, to theassociated side frame angle 37, the upper portion being bolted to theside frame angle section 38. The laterally inner leg portion 113 of eachknife is apertured to receive a pair of bolts 122 by which the knife issecured to the lower rearwardly turned end 124 of a generally verticallydisposed knife support 125, there being two of such supports, as bestshown in Fig. l. The upper end of each knife support is secured, as bythe bolt 83, to the laterally inner end of the adjacent upper transverseframe bar 31 or 32. Each knife support 125 is provided with a curvedsection 128 that is shaped so as to clearthe front frame angle 96.

The mower body and the rotating blades carried thereby are supported atthe desired position relative to the ground surface by means of a pairof vertically adjustable skid units 130. Each of the units 130 includesa standard section 131 and a skid section 131a. The standard section 131is made up of a generally tubular member 132, rectangular in crosssection, and a foot portion 133 that is bolted or otherwise secured toan elongated channel-like member 134 that forms the principal portion ofthe skid section 131a, the member 134 having an upturned sled runnerfront portion 135. A spring member 136 is bolted, as at 137, to thefront end of the skid section 134 and serves to close the gap betweenthe skid and the adjacent portion ofthe front of the mower frame so asto prevent trash and the like from passing between the skid and theframe, particularly when the mower is adjusted for a relativelyhigh'position, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Any suitable means may be provided for adjusting the vertical positionof the skid units 130 relative to the mower frame which they support.For example, the tubular member 132 of each skid unit 130 may beprovided with a screw-threaded trunnion 138 into which the lowerthreaded end of an adjusting rod 139 extends. The upper end of the rod139 is pinned or fixed in any suitable way to a crank swivel member 142to which a The side walls 81a and 81b converge upwardly and' rearwardly,as shown in Fig. 1, and cooperate with the downwardly converging lowerside sheets or walls to form the tunnel T that, as best shown in Fig. 1,is of a forwardly diverging nature through which the drive shaft 58passes without danger of being fouled by the shredded material cut bythe knives 78. In other words, the space enclosed by the upper walls 105and 106 receives the power shaft unit 58 and accommodates lateral andvertical swinging thereof while at the same time, serving to prevent cutand shredded material from coming into contact with the shaft 58. I

While we have shown and described above the preferred structure in whichthe principles of the present invention have been incorporated, it .isto be understood that our invention is not to be limited to theparticular details, shown and described above, but that, in fact, widelydifferent means may be employed in the practice of the broader aspectsof our invention.

What we claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an agricultural implement adapted to be connected with a tractorhaving a power take-o'fi shaft, the improvement that comprises a casingadapted to be connected to the traet'or'for generally lateral andvertical movement .relative thereto, a part carried by the casing andadapted to be driven by power from the power takeoff shaft, meansforming a generally forwardly extending tunnel carried by the'saidcasing, said tunnel comprising walls enclosing a space lying both aboveand below the upper part of said casing except that said space is openat the front, a drive shaft connected at its rear portion with saiddriven part to drive the latter, said drive shaft being disposed withinsaid space and shiftable generally laterally and vertically therein, andmeans on the upper portion of said tunnel to receive, hitch meansconnecting the casing with the tractor.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, further characterized by saidshaft-receiving tunnel means comprising lower downwardly converging andforwardly diverging wall means lying in depending relation with respectto the casing top wall and upper forwardly diverging and upwardlyextending wall means connected with said first mentioned lower wallmeans.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,831,658 Groenig et al. Nov. 10, 1931 2,612,017 Jarmin Sept. 30, 19522,634,571 Lawrence etal. Apr. 14, 1953 2,659,191 Miller et al. Nov. 17,1953 2,751,737 Herod June 26, 1956

